Mr. Segun Ilori  Ekiti State Commissioner for Special Duties, and was recently in Abuja for an international conference on Power reforms organized by the World Bank in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Power. In this interview with  reporters in Abuja, he bares his mind on government’s current efforts to reform the power sector as well as Ekiti politics, among other issues. Excerpts…

What in your view is the way out of power generation problem in the country?

The way out is to give the states greater leverage to deliver  energy to their people. Power has been recognised as the only dividend of democracy that when given to Nigerians, will serve as catalyst for development. The fact is that all other things are tied to power. The only equation you need to solve is the power equation.
We have also seen that the gigantic projects we are used to embarking upon will not function unless we have power.

It has been seen that communication was a problem before now, but today we have seen that it is no longer a problem. The Nigerian Independent Power Plant (NIPP), big project with billions of Naira, but it also has its own problem because of the location issues. Gas is not available everywhere and the project is gas based. So we suggested long ago that we should have small power projects (SPP)that will be scattered everywhere in the country that will deliver power directly to the people.

I thank God for whatever the reason Rural Electrification Board was scrapped, we thank our late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua for that initiative. How can you have rural electrification body that is located at the federal capital when the rural areas are neglected?

Those for whom the projects are meant for are still in the rural areas and have not felt the impact. Why not let every state submit its power programme while the allocation in the federal budget for rural electrification is divided amongst the states based on their requirements and then ask the federal ministry of power to supervise them? Give them technical specifications, set the standard and give them whatever condition you want to give and you can give a certain percentage of these same amount for these federal agencies to enable them carry out their supervision of the project.

You can even do the same thing for the roads. The era of federal roads have passed, it is the people who use these roads that should know what to do about their roads. You call them federal roads and they are deteriorating. This applies also to the issue of power. If you allow the states to handle the issue of power and federal government supervises, the states will align their programme with the national programme.

Federal government can adopt the same model it has adopted for the Universal Basic Education (UBE) to solve the power problem. Government gives money to the states and they are building the schools, but before now, federal government used to award the contract from Abuja.

At a point they saw the need for a change. Let them have the coordinating agency but we want the projects on the ground. That is why the states are now commending the World Bank for bringing the states in at this time. Before now, what obtained was like oh, we are budgeting billions of naira for power. At the end of the year, the money is either returned to the treasury or it disappears.

How do we hope to sustain such huge projects if the responsibilities are given to the states?

Sustainability is not a problem. When we first had GSM people thought that it will create more problems. But today, you cannot see the first generation of handsets anymore. The good thing about what we are saying is that the people are willing to pay for electricity that you can produce as long as it will take us away from the terrible experience we are currently going through in the country.

People are willing to pay. Before now, you saw what we went through in the hands of NITEL officials trying to get common telephone lines to be able to communicate with our people, but with the advent of GSM, what do you have? Even those you refer to as common akara sellers on the streets use GSM to transact their business, they pay as they use.

Nobody ever thought that GSM business would be as lucrative as it is today in Nigeria. Nigeria is regarded as one of the fastest growing telecommunication centers in the world. So sustainability will come with perfection as expertise develops and as we continue to use, we will be able to sustain what we have. The renewable energy is here with us; sun is shining every day, the wind is available just as we generate wastes every day.

One of the arguments is that we lack the requisite manpower. I do not believe so, I reject that submission totally. If anything, the reverse is the case because Nigeria has abundant manpower. We are not lacking in the area of power. There are about six different universities running programmes in energy and have centers for energy for more than  20 years now. Every year, each of these universities turn out graduates, they are today developing other countries outside Nigeria.

Immediately you energize the power sector you will see them back into the country. Even without them, I know that Nigerians are very creative people, if you see those repairing handsets now, most of them are almost illiterates, but they are repairing what you and I will refer to as high tech and these things were not there few years back. So let us start our own. Look, it has been said that if what President Goodluck Jonathan can give us is stable power supply, people will applaud him.

Government is removing subsidy and this is gradually leading to increase in prices of electricity, do you see the possibility of people in the rural area paying the new commercial rates?

Let me tell you, the multiplier effect of what we are talking about, in the rural areas, people grinding pepper, maize, and all that use electricity. As we talk, they are generating their own power at a very high cost, yet they are still doing their business because people are paying them for the services they provide.

You can imagine if you have a more efficient power supply, they will generate more to the economy. The power is one programme that will generate its own resources. As we talk now, there is no power, yet people are charged, PHCN charge them at high cost and where they cannot get at all, their children buy generators for them that they run with diesel at very expensive costs. In some areas, the power they get is not even better than candle light, yet they are made to pay and they pay.

Like I said earlier, people are willing to sustain power if they see that it is available.

Ekiti has always been in the news. When will the fight between Governor Segun Oni and former Governor Ayo Fayose end?

No, there is no struggle between Governor Oni and Fayose because Fayose is a past tense in Ekiti political development. You know, if not for corruption in our system, some people should not be walking the streets freely. The issue of politics in Ekiti is that between the PDP and the Action Congress (AC).

I am sure that as time goes on, we will have those who can effectively check the activities of criminals to do their jobs. We did not contest election with him. If you remember, he was removed before we got there and the people he sponsored in ANPP and AC we defeated them twice. We did not institute criminal cases against Fayose, he committed the atrocities before we got there.  The issue we have is the issue of people not accepting their fate.

People are defeated in an election, yet they refused to accept defeat. They want to use force to gain power and as you know also, these things are externally induced. There are those who want to build empire across their own areas, they want to add Ekiti to their pockets of influence and Ekiti people are saying no.

Engr. Oni won an election, they said, no, they did not agree and the court ordered fresh election in some areas and again, we won. They went to court again and the court declared us victorious, yet, they do not want to concede defeat. For them, politics has become a do-or-die matter and the worry for me is that the media that is supposed to be neutral is not.

The media is used to get victory even before judgment is delivered, when they lose, the same press will now be used to fan the embers of discord and to desecrate the judiciary. When opposition loses, they will say it is not good for our democracy but when they win they will say, oh, our democracy is working.

In Anambra, PDP lost election and everybody said the election was free and fair. The same Prof. (Maurice) Iwu conducted all the elections but because APGA won it was victory for democracy.

Even in Ekiti, AC challenged the result of election only in six out of 177 wards. Even then, it was not totally in all the units in these wards but in some units. That goes to show that 95 per cent of the results were accepted. They even did not prove that the elections were rigged in those areas because they could not present witnesses in many of the areas. These are facts contained in the judgment. Anybody who scored 95 per cent in an exam should be given a pass mark.

The Electoral Act 2006 talks about substantial compliance and evidence supports the fact that at 95 per cent we did compliance substantially. But the press refused to look at that. Whatever the opposition says, no matter whether it is the truth or not, is right, going by the way the press is handling electoral issues in Nigeria.

Can you imagine them saying that we used N3 billion to bribe and that the N3 billion was changed to foreign currency in Ogere, Ogun State?  What is significance of Ogere in foreing exchange more than Lagos.You as a journalist, if you have N10 million, the Bureau de Change man will come to meet you in your house. Must anybody go to Ogere to change N3 billion, it does not make sense and the press will publish things like these?Where is our ethics in all these!

If you carry N3 billion out of the system, all the security agencies will know, including the CBN. It does not make sense at all. In any case, what we get in a month  in Ekiti is about N1.7billion when the wage bill  alone is 1.9billion. So how will you raise that kind of money?

The problem we have in Ekiti is from external forces that are looking at Ekiti as the next place they want to colonize.

So far, what can you say the governor has done for the people?

 A lot than what we can say offhand! Lets take a few examples: It is only in Ekiti that you have SS1 students in boarding schools, each with his or her laptop. We started the laptop per child programme and each laptop is enabled by wireless internet.

The schools are going to be powered by solar system and that is why we are interested in this power project. We want to use solar power in our schools.  All the old dilapidated school buildings in the state have been replaced with new ones ,and if  you happen to pass through Ekiti, it is visible ,coupled with the new one storey classrooms . By the UBEC results we were rated the best in the South West.

In the area of roads, we have done a lot connecting rural areas and all the areas not previously connected. Over 400km of roads have been completed out about 800km ongoing including Federal roads.
Also in the area of water, less than 15 per cent of our people had access to water when we came in and Government then spent money to carry water in tankers and stay in some market areas with camera to show they are doing something and people  will clap but today, the story is different. We now supply pipe borne water to our people. Using MDG funds we have connected several communities with water pipelines , built  over 9 booster stations, and water treatment plant, We did not build a new dam; we only spent the peoples’ money to rehabilitate the existing dams, which successive governments said was impossible to rehabilitate.

In the area of power, the  132/33 kv that had been  abandoned for years has started  test run under a focused collaboration with PHCN.Now  we are starting small power projects  which we are seeking World Bank assistance to implement using renewable!

We are working and the people are getting the dividends of democracy. Despite the distractions, it will amaze you to see what we have been able to do if you can come to Ekiti.

We are not making noise about it because Engr. Oni believes it is the people who should be giving him commendations, not noise making. He told us that we are doing what the people have voted for us to do and that when you have done so much, even if people pretend to be blind ,they will see  what you have done

As a politician, what is your view about  about PDP Presidential position in 2011

We have always seen the hand of God in our nation, I believe the hand of God will still dictate what will happen ,so lets pray that God will  show his hand  again.  Wishing all of us Goodluck !